Agricultural and construction machines are often required to operate in soils which are extremely wet and muddy and in very sandy soils. Conventional wheel type machines generally do not operate efficiently in such soil conditions. Therefore, alternate types of machines which can operate in such adverse soil conditions are in demand. One type of such machine is one having an undercarriage incorporating an endless flexible drive belt and associated support rollers and idler wheels. This type of belted undercarriage is now widely used on both powered and non-powered machines. On the non-powered machines, such as pulled work trailers, rubber tires or rubber coated wheels are generally used for the idler wheel assemblies. Each assembly includes a pair of spaced apart tires or rubber coated wheels which form an opening therebetween. The flexible belt includes a plurality of integrally formed resilient guide blocks which pass through the opening to guide the flexible belt. Continuous frictional contact between the guide blocks and the idler wheels can cause damage to the idler wheels and the guide blocks. To prevent such frictional contact and damage, it is important that proper alignment between the guide blocks and the idler wheels be maintained. However, even when good alignment is maintained, some contact will occur between the guide blocks and the idler wheels.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.